Perspective.

A flame was recently re-ignited in my soul. This little flitter of light has shed sparks and spread further on the canvas of my heart.

It’s the flame to learn.

And this flame is quickly turning into a blazing fire! I’ve realized that the more I know about the Word of God, the character of God, the heart of God and the purpose of the people of God, the more my heart becomes His and I understand the compassion of Jesus. If you ever had a glimpse of the compassion of Jesus, or felt this pang on your heart, you’ve realized…it’s something that changes you.

Prepare your heart for something wonderfully challenging and extremely urgent that you are about to read. Get ready for a life-changer and a perspective-shifter as we journey to the heart of Jesus (Matthew 9:38-38):

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Did you get that? Jesus felt compassion for the people. In the Greek, “compassion” means to be moved to the depths of one’s soul where love and pity abides. This movement isn’t just a feeling, it’s followed by action. So here’s my top five for this Friday. A top five very dear to my heart. A top five, that when I first read it, my heart wept and my perspective on life completely shifted.

1. 6.87 billion people. This is how many other souls like you and me populate the earth. Oh how quickly we fall into the trap of living in a “me-centered” world when there are billions of others out there!

2. 2.84 billion people. (41.3%) Are unreached. There are NO believing Christians around these people. Of 16,500 unique people groups that are in the world, 6,900 are unreached with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

3. 1 billion. This is the number of people who entered the 21st century unable to read or write their name. The average American has three Bibles per household. I pray that we would grasp the treasure we have when we hold our Bibles, the Word of Truth, and read it like we eat our daily bread!

4. 22,000. This is the number of children that die daily due to starvation. Our pantries are full, and our stomach growls are quickly satiated. Yet we forget to thank God for our meals and live in excess.

5. 3 billion. Over half the world lives on only $2.50 a day. (That is less than the price of one Starbucks drink.)  1.1 billion live on less than $1.00 a day.

Everyday, the Gospel is readily at my hands, I have clean water to bathe in and brush my teeth with, and a cozy air-conditioned apartment I retreat to each night. Everyday, I choose what I am going to wear, spend many moments scrolling through Twitter, eat a well-rounded diet, and have medicine readily available if I don’t feel well. Everyday I forget to be thankful for every.single.thing. When everyday there are Christians all over the world who only have one page of the Bible and are reading it secretly at night by candle light.

I’m making changes. I’m challenging myself to live with a “Kingdom” perspective. Here’s a few action steps I am going to take:

1. Live simply. Rid myself of excess that sits and isn’t used.

2. Give more. Freely we’ve received, freely give. Find an organization that is taking care of orphans and widows, the poor and the needy, AND doing all of this in the name of Jesus.

3. Read & memorize more. There’s so much power in the Gospel that I don’t understand yet! It’s a gift and privilege to hold the Word of God. I’ve been given much responsibility since I have the Word so readily available as well as study tools and access to preaching.

4. Pray believing. Again, there’s power in prayer that we have yet to ever understand! Prayer shouldn’t be squeezed in, it should be

5. Learn. Most of the world is uneducated and hungry to learn. Education is a gift, and the more I’ve been learning, the more I’ve learned there is so much more to life!

What will you do? The clock is ticking, Jesus is coming soon, let’s make every moment matter for glory of God!

 

Statistics from Joshua Project, Global Frontier Missions, and Global Issues.